Collaborative approaches to urban governance model of historic districts: a case study of the Yu’er Hutong project in Beijing

In recent years, the Chinses urban management system of historic districts has evolved into micro-scale and collaborative movements under the strong government-led actions in China. In this context, the position of experts in urban and architecture fields is emphasized as the mediator and the facilitator in collaborative processes. The leading groups address the serious problems of historic areas in Beijing such as (1) the overcrowded conditions, (2) the neglected illegal structures, (3) the fragmented property ownership, and (4) the poor infrastructures and living conditions. The purpose of this paper is to propose a model of collaborative governance in the Chinese historic districts and scrutinize the role of leadership in collaborative approaches. Based on field visits and publication reviews, this paper casts a light on how the leaders interact with the government-leaders and the residents and contrive to address the major problems of the historic site. This paper found that leaderships perform as the advisor for the decision-makers and the project manager/engineer to the residents. This trend pursues the horizontal and multidimensional mechanism to manage the historic districts. It would give an example of collaborative approaches to achieve sustainable urban revitalization in the inner-city of Beijing.HighlightsIt suggests a framework of collaborative governance by considering both Chinese and Western contexts.The setting regulations represent rigid government-led approaches in the framework.The leaderships and building relations explain the specific roles of experts in the framework.The leaderships act as the mediator between the governments and the residents.The performances of leadership contribute to addressing problems in the historic site.